Lakes Region Mutual Aid has role in saving firefighter’s life

LACONIA — A dispatcher in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, has received a commendation for lifesaving action he took on Dec. 26, aided by Chief Coordinator Jon Goldman of the Lakes Region Mutual Fire Aid Association.

Murfreesboro dispatcher Brady Lutton received the commendation and the Jerry Anderson Hero Award for his role in talking a retired assistant fire chief through a period of depression with suicidal thoughts.

Goldman said in a press release that he was browsing through a firefighter group page on Facebook that evening in December when he came across posts with statements such as “I feel like just giving up … for what it’s worth I just want to go in peace.” The man went on to say, “... it has cost me two jobs and most everything I own, now my health is getting worse I’m about to lose the rest. I have no family left. If I go for help, I lose my house and probably my wife….”

Other users posted words of support and encouragement, Goldman said, but the man continued with statements such as “If I continue, I know I will not be able to keep going. I hope to get my family/home in order and die.”

Goldman said those words struck a chord with him, being aware that post-traumatic stress is the leading killer of first responders, and he tried to contact the man, who had stopped posting by that time.

Goldman located the man’s wife through Facebook Messenger.

Lutton then posted that he was talking with the man, so Goldman contacted Lutton to offer any assistance he could give.

Lutton continued communicating with the despondent man while he and Goldman continued researching to determine who and where the man was.

“Through Dispatcher Lutton’s skills and training as a Professional 9-1-1 Dispatcher, he was able to locate an address that we thought might be the right location,” Goldman said. Lutton contacted fire and police personnel to send them to that address, which turned out not to be the correct one. Lutton told Goldman, “he is sending me on a wild goose chase, but I will find him.”

Lutton finally talked the man into walking into his local fire station in Gulfport, Mississippi, and contacted the station to let them know to expect him.

Lutton continued speaking to the man until he entered the station, where he was evaluated and transported by local emergency medical providers.

Lutton contacted Goldman the next day to say he had spoken with the man’s wife, who said he was feeling better and had started on medication with a referral to mental health counseling.

The man reportedly wrote to Lutton, “Brady, don’t stop what you do, people need you, I don’t know where things would have gone last night if I hadn’t went to the room or group I did. Keep going, don’t give up. Your good at what you do.”

Lutton reported to Goldman on Dec. 29 that he had remained in contact with the man, who had attended his first Alcoholic Anonymous meeting. Lutton arranged for another group to pay for the counseling.

The individual himself contacted Goldman to thank him for his involvement, saying he was doing better, but knew he had a long way to go.

Goldman nominated Lutton for the Association of Public Safety Communications Officials (APCO) Telecommunicator of the Year Award, which was supported by Murfreesboro officials.

Goldman stated, “We often hear that dispatchers are the ‘first first responders’ and make a difference every day. This is a tangible example of the lifesaving work dispatchers do every day. Dispatcher Lutton utilized the technology available to him, and clearly assisted someone who wasn’t even in his jurisdiction in such a way that it will make a permanent, life-altering difference in this person’s life.”